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# Control statements in Python

Institute for Environmental and Spatial Analysis...University of North Georgia

## 1   Conditions

### 1.1   Blocks

What is a block?

It is a group of indented statements that follows a colon.

Python uses spaces and tabs to create a block.

The standard width of a tab is 8 spaces, but many editors support different widths.

I would not mix tabs and spaces for Python blocks.

How many spaces do you need? You can use any number of spaces, but just be careful to be consistent in the same block. We’ll see how blocks work in the next section.

### 1.2   if

The if statement executes its block only if the condition is truthy

Try

x = int(input("x? "))
if x == 0:
print('x is 0') # use 2 spaces for this block

x = int(input("x? "))
if x > 0:
print(x)          # 2 spaces
print('x is 0') # 4 spaces in the same block, inconsistent!

Try

x = int(input("x? "))
if x == 0:
print('x is 0')            # 2 spaces
if x < 0:
print(x)                 # 4 spaces
print('x is negative')   # 4 spaces, consistent
if x > 0:
print(x)               # 8 spaces
print('x is positive') # 8 spaces, consistent

#### 1.2.1   Exercise: Print the range of an integer using if

Keywords: input(), print(), if

You need to test if x is between $(0,2]$, $(2,4]$, $(4,6]$, $(6,8]$, or $(8,10]$. What is your algorithm using if statements?

Does this code work? Why or why not? How would you fix it?

x = int(input("x? "))
if x <= 0:
print('x <= 0')
if x > 0:
print('x in (0,2]')
if x > 2:
print('x in (2,4]')
if x > 4:
print('x in (4,6]')
if x > 6:
print('x in (6,8]')
if x > 8:
print('x in (8,10]')
if x > 10:
print('x > 10')
x = int(input("x? "))
if x <= 0:
print('x <= 0')
if x > 0 and x <= 2:
print('x in (0,2]')
if x > 2 and x <= 4:
print('x in (2,4]')
if x > 4 and x <= 6:
print('x in (4,6]')
if x > 6 and x <= 8:
print('x in (6,8]')
if x > 8 and x <= 10:
print('x in (8,10]')
if x > 10:
print('x > 10')
x = int(input("x? "))
if x <= 0:
print('x <= 0')
if 0 < x <= 2: # chain and's
print('x in (0,2]')
if 2 < x <= 4:
print('x in (2,4]')
if 4 < x <= 6:
print('x in (4,6]')
if 6 < x <= 8:
print('x in (6,8]')
if 8 < x <= 10:
print('x in (8,10]')
if x > 10:
print('x > 10')

### 1.3   else

The else statement executes its block if the previous if or elif condition is falsy. Compare these two:

x = int(input("x? "))
if x <= 0:
print('x is not positive')
if x > 0: # this condition is NOT of the above
print('x is positive')
x = int(input("x? "))
if x <= 0:
print('x is not positive')
else: # NOT x <= 0
print('x is positive')

### 1.4   elif

The elif statement is a shorthand for an if statement inside an else block. You just need one less block. Compare these two.

x = int(input("x? "))
if x <= 0:
print('x is not positive')
else:
if x > 5:
print('x > 5')
x = int(input("x? "))
if x <= 0:
print('x is not positive')
elif x > 5:
print('x > 5')

A series of if, elif, and else is possible, but there should be only one else at the end logically.

x = int(input("x? "))
if x <= 0:
print('x is not positive')
elif x > 5:
print('x > 5')
else:
print('0 < x <= 5')

### 1.5   Exercise: Print the range of an integer using if, elif, and else

Keywords: elif, else

Let’s try the same algorithm again, but you’re a little smarter now. You need to test if x is between $(0,2]$, $(2,4]$, $(4,6]$, $(6,8]$, or $(8,10]$.

x = int(input("x? "))
if x <= 0:
print('x <= 0')
elif x <= 2:
print('x in (0,2]')
elif x <= 4:
print('x in (2,4]')
elif <= 6:
print('x in (4,6]')
elif <= 8:
print('x in (6,8]')
elif x <= 10:
print('x in (8,10]')
else:
print('x > 10')

## 2   Loops

### 2.1   for

A for loop iterates each item in an array-like object and runs the block.

# tuple
for i in (1, 2, 3):
print(i)

# list
for i in [1, 2, 3]:
print(i)

# range
for i in range(1, 4):
print(i)

### 2.2   while

A while loop tests a given condition and loops the block as long as the condition is truthy.

What does this code print?

x = 1
while x <= 10:
print(x)
x = x + 1

### 2.3   continue

While inside a for or while loop, you may want to skip the rest of the block and move to the next iteration. In this case, use the continue statement.

What is this code supposed to print? Does it even work as intended? Why not?

x = 1
while x <= 10:
if x % 2:
continue
print(x)
x = x + 1
x = 1
while x <= 10:
if x % 2:
x = x + 1
continue
print(x)
x = x + 1

### 2.4   break

Use the break statement to get out a for or while loop without looping it further. You only exist one level of a loop.

What does this code do?

for x in range(1, 10):
for y in range(1, 10):
if y < 3:
continue
if y > 6:
break # exit the y loop only
print(x+y)

## 3   Homework: Summation

Take an integer $n$ from the keyboard, calculate and print $x=\sum_{i=1}^n i$. If $n$ is not positive, print a warning “n must be positive” and stop. Assume that the user always enters an integer, so you don’t have to handle non-integer inputs. Implement two versions of this program using for and while statements. Create two separate files following this naming convention: FirstLastname_sum_for.py and FirstLastname_sum_while.py. Zip these two files into FirstLastname_sum.zip and upload it to the D2L assignment folder.